Protecting My Investment
by poetrylivemusic
Summary: One-shot explaining how Braeden got from Beacon Hills hospital to Derek Hale's loft after episode 4x07.


**This is the continuation of my previous oneshot- The Bae, She Ain****'****t Ok since someone requested it and after episode 4x07 I just had to know what happened after she woke up the next day. Be mindful it won****'****t follow the show exactly. And I don****'****t own anything Teen Wolf but desperately wish I did. Enjoy it loves!**

It was early morning by the time she opened her eyes. They fluttered for what felt like hours before she could focus on anything. The shapes were blurry, fluorescent overhead lights too bright and something was confining both of her arms. It was too hot and she couldn't move. She was pinned.

"Mmm" she croaked, squirming in the sheets. She tried blinking again and the hospital room came into perfect view.

Those familiar stucco ceiling tiles, horrible cream walls and boring periwinkle baseboards. The covered tray of bland hospital food sitting on the tiny rolling table remained untouched. The pitcher of water next to it still filled to the brim with liquid. Two plastic covered glasses la-

Two.

There were two cups.

Why were there two?

Braeden took a wheezing breath and tried moving again. Something beside her shifted and she stilled instantly. Her forehead and neck were still heavily bandaged which made it difficult to turn her head but that didn't deter Braeden and when she did, she was met with an image completely foreign to her.

Derek Hale,the Beacon Hills werewolf who hired her less than a week ago, was laying beside her. His massive arm wrapped around her slender ones in a tight embrace, the other was neatly positioned under his head. As she furrowed her brow in confusion and blinked furiously, she realized that he was closer than they had ever been before. Her line of sight was a direct view of his adam's apple, slowly bobbing up and down with each soft snore. His chest hair barely visible underneath his modest charcoal gray v-neck tshirt.

She angled her head to sneak a peek at him sleeping, when she accidentally bumped his chin with her bandages. He stirred for a moment, sliding his huge body closer to hers on the under-sized hospital bed until he groggily realized that Braeden was awake under him. The heavy arm blanketing her slid slowly back to it's owner who used the hand to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"Sorry." His voice still gravelly from a hard night.

He eased out of bed mindful not to harm her. She wanted to tell him it was okay,that he was okay, but the pain in her throat prevented her from it.

Stretching his arms wide, Derek tried to rid himself of the last vestiges of sleep. He sat down on the cot next to her bed and rubbed the back of his neck, yawning quietly.

He looked up to find Braeden trying to mouth something.

"What is it? Are you ok? What do you need?" He said rushing to her side.

She winced as she raised a unstable finger toward the pitcher on the rolling table.

"Water?" Derek followed her direction with his eyes. Locking onto the table, he deduced that she was thirsty like the doctor said she would be.

"I'll get it." He sighed, relieved.

Sliding the table around the perimeter of the bed, he ripped the plastic off one cup and filled it. Braeden pressed a button on the bed's side panel and adjusted to a straighter position. He handed her the glass.

"Easy. Easy." Derek ordered with a hushed tone, noting the speed that she was guzzling the contents.

Braeden had to stifle the urge to roll her eyes as she gulped past the pain and drank the entire glass of water. Derek studied her the entire time, searching her for any indication that even taking a water break was too much too soon.

"Better?" He asked, eye squinted in speculation.

She nodded, placed the glass down and pushed the scratchy thin hospital sheets off her legs.

"What are you doing?" Derek all but screamed at her.

She jumped, her eyes bulging before returning to normal. Her hand over her heart. "I'm going to the bathroom. Jesus!"

Taking the cannula out of her nose she swung her legs out of bed. They hit the railing with a heavy thud and she winced.

Derek readied to catch her, the doctor had warned him that it might take a few hours for her to gain functional strength back so when wobbling knees collapsed from under her, he instantly leaned over and slipped one strong arm around her waist. He slipped off her finger monitor in a matter of seconds and placed her shaking hands around his neck, supporting her full bodyweight. He heard Braeden release a defeated breath before she relaxed into him.

They didn't say a word as the two of them hobbled gradually toward the bathroom door. Derek alternated between quick glances at their destination and her, looking down each time he noticed more of a watery sheen to her stare. Felt her trembling legs discreetly try to brace herself and fail repeatedly, noticed the focus she gave to avoiding his eye contact. He could tell that this was probably the hardest thing she's ever had to do- let someone help her- because there was a time he had lived something similar to this very moment. So he didn't ask her if she was ok, just continued to hold her steady in his arms until they reached the entryway.

Her hand slipping from his shoulder to the scuffed door handle signaled an abrupt stop. Braeden slumped over and shook her head that she couldn't do this anymore. He suddenly realized ,in that moment, just how much she undertook to keep herself together and wondered how many times in the past she'd had to do it alone.

Derek tightened his hold around her as he reached out, placed a steady hand directly above hers and pushed. The door open fell open as she stood there, reticent and unmoving. He could practically feel the guilt rolling off her skin in waves so when she reluctantly met his eyes, he grasped her soft hand and settled in on the knob. He nodded slightly and regarded Braeden with hazel eyes that placed complete confidence in her and spoke "you can" into her being so clearly, she started to believe it.

"I'm going to find the doctor,tell him you're awake. It shouldn't take long. I'll be back."

With that he disappeared.

* * *

"Doctor Hanes is in a meeting right now so I'll be doing your post-op assessment. Okay? Braeden what's the last thing you remember?" Melissa McCall questioned standing by her bedside.

"Uh-I'm not sure." She shook her head repeatedly trying to remember. "Lookout Point. I guess." she shrugged pitifully.

Brown curls met with hazel eyes across the room and shook in affirmation, Braeden had the exact amount of temporary amnesia the doctor warned about.

The patient in question stared at them,brow severely furrowed. Derek attempted to bank her suspicion by shaking his head. He let Mama McCall explain.

"Breaden, you were shot and Derek brought you here. You had to have major emergency surgery to repair the internal damage you suffered. It took nearly seven hours in the operating room and two surgeons to fix you up. You're a very lucky girl, by all standards you should have been sleeping until Friday." Melissa smiled changing Braeden's IV.

"What day is today?" Braeden asked, slightly terrified of the answer.

Derek shot Melissa a worried glance but her sympathetic nod gave him the confidence to answer.

"It's Wednesday."

"I've been in the hospital for… three days…" she trailed off in disbelief.

She sat up straighter in the bed, eyes darting back and forth trying to comprehend how she could have been out of commission for so long. She had a deadline. An assignment.

Her shallow breathing was broadcast by the heart monitor on her left index finger. The EKG machine beeped with a ferocity that made the equipment sound more like a construction rig.

Melissa bent down so she was eye-level with Braeden. "Braeden, look at me."

Derek shot up from his chair when she continued frantically scanning the room.

"Braeden." he crooned softly coming to sit on the edge of the bed. "Calm down."

She finally speared him with a look of panic. Melissa stroked her hair. "Honey, you have to calm down. Take deep breaths with me. Come on." she pleaded trying to ply Braeden's attention.

"I-I-didn't" she hyperventilated "ma-mak-make it."

Derek scooted closer and cautiously placed his hand on her leg.

"Look at me. You have time." he assured her and watched as Braeden actively tried to control her heaving.

The kind-hearted nurse witnessing the scene before her had absolutely no idea what they were referring to but she had a feeling it was another life or death situation and that this time she shouldn't get involved. "Good girl." she praised,now rubbing her patient's the loud beep of the monitor returned to a dull rhythmic cadence, Melissa slowed her soothing to a stop.

Braeden thanked her for what she did after getting strict orders of bed rest for the next 24 hours.

"Bedrest." she reiterated, pointing a finger at Braeden. "And I'd seriously advise against doing whatever it was that got you into this bed again." Melissa instructed, smiling as she closed the door quietly.

With no nurse, it was just the two of them alone again.

Derek was still sitting on the bed that Braeden was still required to stay in. He stared hard, searching her face for something and she felt the urge to look anywhere but at him.

He pulled his hand into his lap and admired it and they slipped into a long string of quiet moments together on opposite ends of the bed.

"The job. I've never missed a deadline." She broke the silence observing her own hands, still pale from surgery.

Derek furrowed his brow and exhaled before replying.

"Then I guess we better get you out of here." He released his brow and rose from the bed. He had just turned the knob when he heard her speak.

"Derek. I can get it done."

He turned in time to catch the statement of truth in her eyes.

"I trust you." he voiced but his look in his eyes spelled out conflicting feelings.

* * *

Derek came back to find Braeden dressing herself, the formless hospital gown pooled next to her. He couldn't help but follow the curves of her body from her black boots to the the seams of her red lace bra. She was just pulling her shirt over her head when he cleared his throat to let her know he was back. She didn't turn around as she asked. "Did they clear me?"

"No."

Her shoulders fell and she pivoted. "Great." she said sarcastically bending down to pick up the gown. She sucked in a hissing breath and slowly rolled up tossing it on the bed. "So what are you still doing here? I have 24 more hours in this place. I can't find Kate until I leave."

"The doctor wouldn't discharge you unless you were going to be supervised." Derek revealed still rooted in his spot. "And since I was the one who brought you in…"

"No."

"They won't you out unless I take you."

"Ok so we'll walk outside together,then you can disappear. We go our separate ways and I can get back to doing my job."

"Braeden."

"This isn't up for discussion Derek."

"I know." he said crossing the room to stand in front of her. "You're coming to the loft."

She made a motion to talk and Derek leaned in.

"End of discussion." he said his eyes smiling.

She huffed and bit her lip, trying to contain the smirk beginning to play there. Derek noticed her smile but decided not to acknowledge it instead he just watched her walk away. His eyes followed every sway of her hips as she sauntered over to his chair where her jacket was.

"Why are you doing all this, for me?" she asked wearily, struggling to put her arms through her jacket sleeves.

After her right hand was securely through, Braeden took a deep steadying breath, gaining the energy needed to keep herself going. As she was blindly reaching behind her back for the other sleeve, Derek strolled over,took the remaining arm and held it open while she slipped the rest of her bruised body into it. She suddenly felt the need to thank him and twisted slightly to find that he hadn't moved an inch. Derek's broad frame easily eclipsed Braeden's tiny stature, effortlessly swallowing and enclosing her in his radiating body heat. This way, this close, she was aware of things she never noticed before.

He always took two breaths at a time.

He preferred cotton shirts to other fabrics.

He had a scar on his left pectoral.

He wore a tiny gold band on the left hand he just stuffed in his jeans.

But the most obviously notable was that he smelled exactly like she thought he would- of strength, sadness and spiced soap. It was warm in a way that didn't need a fireplace, comforting without being overpowering. The only real problem was that Braeden was too close, so close that she inhaled him a little more than she was ready for and her legs were seconds from giving way.

They stood like this for a while,bodies pressed against each other. Neither one said a word, afraid for different reasons.

Derek didn't want to be hurt again.

Braeden didn't want to do the hurting.

They stayed so long in this position that they started to breathe in sync. Her out, him in. They didn't mind. Maybe a moment like this didn't need a word or maybe there just weren't words made for moments like these.

After a while, Braeden's legs felt like quaking noodles and her strength was fading fast. As if he sensed her thoughts, Derek placed a firm hand at the small of her back to brace her. She peeked up at him from behind long eyelashes. Derek regarded her with eyes of possibility, holding her intense cinnamon gaze for a moment too long.

He cleared his throat and took his time backing away.

"I'm..um..protecting my investment." he replied with a slyly hidden smile that she didn't quite believe was void of innuendo.

Before she could respond with a probing question, he already had her bag and the room door opened. He turned to her and the uncertainty in his eyes from before had vanished as was now replaced with a growing nervousness.

He extended a slightly shaky hand. "Ready?"

Braeden moved without pain for the first time in 24 hours toward Derek and slipped her own shaking hand into his.

"Yeah. Let's go."

* * *

**Did you like it? I thought that this might have been what happened but since we'll never know I decided to write it. Let me know what you think. Review, I love reading your comments!**


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